Tag Archives: Tiger Leaping Gorge

Zai Jian China!

Posted on by

Goodbye China

Goodbye China

China is not a developing nation, it’s developed. And we all might understand soon just how developed they are. I’ve never met a people who are more determined to make an impression on the world than these folks. Today China, tomorrow – well, probably Taiwan – but then …the World!

Hostels in China are terrific. The number and quality of them surprised us, lots of YHA options these days too, so get your membership before you arrive. Generally, they are cheap and most are either new or only 4 or 5 years old, so everything is shiny and new. Transportation in China also really surprised and impressed us. We were blown away by how modern the road network was and the buses were very comfortable. Now, bear in mind were were coming from India where the transportation system leaves something to be desired, so in comparison China ruled.

In terms of sights and things to do, the culture and natural beauty of the Southwest trumped the monuments and architecture of the North and East. Go to Tiger Leaping Gorge before the Dam is completed, see the South-West if at all possible, you will be greatly rewarded. Make time for it, shaving a few days off your time in Beijing or Shanghai will pay off.

China is the place I most wanted to visit before this trip an so far it’s the place I most want to come back to. Thanks China, have a great time ruling the World, I’m sure you’ll do a great job.

Things We Love(d) About China

Posted on by

Tiger Leaping Gorge

Tiger Leaping Gorge

There’s no denying it. We’ve enjoyed China. We didn’t fall in love with the big cities of the east coast, but the western and southwestern provinces are spectacular – filled with stunning scenery and diverse people. In summary, here are a few of our favorites:

  • mountains – The mountains of the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces provided some of the most beautiful and dramatic scenery of our trip. Hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge was a definite highlight for us.
  • point and fry – Finding veg food in China has been a source of endless frustration. It certainly exists and when we do find it, it’s been pretty tasty. By far some of the best and cheapest food has been at bus stops on our long distance journeys. There are usually a number of stalls with numerous bowls of fresh ingredients. You just walk up and point to the ingredients you like and they fry it up for you. Fast, fresh and cheap!
  • air conditioning – Sitting there in your overly cooled office, you are probably taking for granted that you are chilled to the bone right now. Well, after two months of very little AC in India, we were most pleased to find out the AC is the norm on most buses, trains and in hostel rooms. Ah…refreshing.
  • Sun Jie Hai commercial – Sun Jie Hai is Chinese and plays professional soccer in England. With great regularity, CCTV 9 (the English language propaganda channel) plays a commercial for London based Jade Travel featuring Sun Jie Jai and another guy we suspect if just a regular old footy fan. It’s not entirely clear to me why we laugh every single time the commercial is on and continue to quote it randomly throughout the day, but I think it may have to do with the way the footy fan asks Jie Hai, “Oh, why” as if he were Garth from Wayne’s World. He even kind of distorts his mouth like him and looks uncomfortable. Sadly there’s no Jie Hai commercial on YouTube and we didn’t manage to video it ourselves. I haven’t done it justice, but I tell you it’s hilarious.
  • peoples’ parks – A highlight of China’s cities is it’s parks. They are pleasant places to stroll around and observe an older generation of Chinese men and women performing impromptu concerts, playing traditional musical instruments, practicing tai chi or flying elaborate kites. This is the China you probably won’t see in 20 years.
  • Chinese kids – We’re not sure what it is, but they are incredibly cute – especially the boys. Maybe it’s the buzz cut or maybe it’s all the doting they get as the only child in the family. Who knows, but they sure made more than one bus ride entertaining.
  • bicycles – This is THE bike nation. There are special lanes for cyclists, monitored bike parking lots and portable bike repair shops all around town. Though it seems the personal auto is one the rise, hopefully the tradition of pedaling to and fro won’t go away.

China Notes for Budget Travelers

Posted on by

Our original budget for China was based on the costs of the big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Hong Kong. Our goal was to stay at or below $70 a day for both of us. We were able to get by on about that in Hong Kong, but were able to easily stay below $50 a day for most of China.

This was a welcome change and was in large part thanks to the vast network of YHA hostels that have come online in the last couple of years. Our lodging rarely exceeded $20 for a double room with the exception of Hong Kong where you pay $30-35 for a tidy little matchbox. The lowest we paid was about $2.50 for a basic twin room in Tiger Leaping Gorge and the average was likely somewhere between $10-$15.

When we did have to opt for a Chinese hotel, the rule of thumb was bargain. Never pay the quoted rate for anything in China, especially hotel rooms. They were a little more money and a little more worn that the hostels, but still served the purpose. Trying to communicate with them at what time and for how long the hot water works was a whole different issue.

Food was always an interesting endeavor. If you go for western restaurants, where they are available, you more or less pay western prices. Food in general is not very expensive, but finding a place with an English menu or an English speaker was the challenge. The best way to go was the little stalls in the side alleys where the food is fresh and you can point to what you’d like. We took our chances with our botched Chinese and Mandarin phrasebook on more than one occasion. Typically we ended up with some rice and sauteed bok choy – for which I admit I began to develop a slight fondness.

Aside from a few fast and fancy train rides, we didn’t really have any budget breakers in China. Some of the sites have ridiculously high entrance fees, but that was usually offset by cheap lodging and food. Overall, China offered a lot of bang for the buck.